We’re almost as busy as you are during this year-end season, so this month we’re doing a retrospective of our most popular posts, as determined by how many visitors they received. We excluded the Legal Roundups and posts about our holiday hours, which are bizarrely popular. So please enjoy our top 7 posts!

This post is from Jan. 17, 2011 (lot of popular posts from late 2010/early 2011!), and it solidifies our faith in paycards.

Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it would be issuing tax refunds to 600,000 Americans via prepaid debit cards rather than paper checks. The Treasury Department also announced that the 1.7 million Americans who already use payroll cards can have their refund direct-deposited onto their cards as if it were a regular paycheck.

This news is just the latest example of how payroll and other debit cards are taking the place of paper checks across the nation. While some myths about payroll cards may still be floating around, most businesses and consumers are welcoming the cards. The migration from paper to plastic benefits the people who issue the checks and the people who receive them, and payroll debit cards are no exception.

Employers who use payroll debit cards save money on payroll distribution and reconciliation, not to mention printing costs. Employees fare even better; they don’t have to use inconvenient check-cashing services that often charge exorbitant fees, they don’t have to get a bank account to enjoy the convenience of direct deposit and they can check their balance and payment history online.

Payroll cards are a natural choice for staffing firms, as many of our candidates and associates are at risk for being unbanked or underbanked (meaning they don’t have a bank account or tend to use non-bank financial services, which can charge very high fees). That’s why COATS is proud to partner with Global Cash Card, a MasterCard debit card that can be used around the world.

Both versions of COATS integrate with Global Cash Card. The service is not only free to employers (the only charge you pay is shipping for the cards), it’s free to employees as well. There’s no annual fee, no monthly fee and no enrollment fee. There are no fees for purchases in person or online, and ATM fees are lower than most bank-issued debit cards. Plus, Global Cash Card lets you offer your employees a free online portal to access and manage their payment history. They can also manage their account through email, texts and even fax.

If you’ve been wavering on whether or not to use a payroll debit card for your business, there’s no better time to start using Global Cash Card. Even the U.S. Treasury agrees that they’re a great solution.